Published: Sunday, August 3, 2014 at 5:10 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, August 3, 2014 at 5:10 p.m.

The Wilmington Police Department doesn't have enough detectives, officials say, and a study recently conducted by the department supports the claim.

"The city's grown 33 percent in recent years, our calls for service have increased – we're up to about 180,000 calls for service per year," WPD Chief Ralph Evangelous said. "Quite frankly, we were understaffed from the beginning with detectives."

The department's criminal investigations division has 24 detectives, but needs eight more to meet existing demands, Evangelous told Wilmington City Council in June. The department hasn't yet asked council for any funding.

WPD used a study from the Florida Chapter of the Association of Police Planning and Police Officers to determine how many more positions the department must fill.

The study used detective's average caseloads in various crimes from 2003 to 2013 and then used the Florida study's average number of hours to solve each of those crimes to determine how many investigative hours were necessary in the department.

To meet the average demand from 2003 to 2013, the study found, WPD would need a total of 43,847 hours, which, divided by the study's recommended annual investigative hours per detective, comes out to 32.38 detectives.

"Really, the more minor things for the most part don't get followed up unless there's real good suspect information," Evangelous said, adding that a murder investigation such as that of Elisha Tucker, whose body was found in a Pender County field, can take up all of the department's resources for a week.

New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David sees the impact of the detective shortage on major crimes.

In a March 14 letter, David included hiring more investigators on a list of ways Wilmington City Council could support WPD. There are fewer detectives in the department's criminal investigative division now, David wrote, than there were in 1999.

"For victims of the City's most serious crimes, the personnel shortage in (the criminal investigations division) is felt as their cases are being investigated; while it is a good team of investigators they are simply stretched too thin to do all the work they are being asked to do," David wrote.

While he was in front of council, Evangelous pointed to on-call schedules, expanding technological needs and the lack of specialized detectives as part of the reasoning for expanding the division.

The expanding technological needs include new forensic evidence, as well as increasing use of social media in investigation, said Deputy Chief Mitch Cunningham, who oversees the criminal investigations division.

"There's so much social media. We know that folks are using it," Cunningham said. "In some cases, it helps us determine cases we might not have been aware of and – because of the wealth of potential usefulness of it – we have to make sure we're evaluating it and determining how we can help it further a case."

Another factor, Cunningham said, is the specialization of law enforcement. For instance, WPD employs detectives who specialize in sensitive areas such as crimes involving juveniles and domestic abuse.

"As we look at various examples of law enforcement, it's becoming increasingly technical, increasingly specialized, and we need to resource those areas of specialty," he said.

WPD expects to know exactly where it needs resources in late August or early September, when the department expects to complete a staffing study in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and Michigan State University. The department is waiting until that study is finished to ask for any additional personnel, Evangelous said.

In the meantime, WPD is in the process of hiring several part-time investigators and using volunteers to carry some of the workload. When hiring for both positions, Evangelous said, the department focuses on former officers and FBI agents who have retired to the area.

While neither the new part-time investigators nor the volunteer staff will be sworn officers, they are meant to help relieve the existing staff's burden by making phone calls and writing reports, Evangelous said. They will not be allowed in the field.

<p>The Wilmington Police Department doesn't have enough detectives, officials say, and a study recently conducted by the department supports the claim.</p><p>"The city's grown 33 percent in recent years, our calls for service have increased – we're up to about 180,000 calls for service per year," WPD Chief <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic9935"><b>Ralph Evangelous</b></a> said. "Quite frankly, we were understaffed from the beginning with detectives."</p><p>The department's criminal investigations division has 24 detectives, but needs eight more to meet existing demands, Evangelous told Wilmington City Council in June. The department hasn't yet asked council for any funding.</p><p>WPD used a study from the Florida Chapter of the Association of Police Planning and Police Officers to determine how many more positions the department must fill.</p><p>The study used detective's average caseloads in various crimes from 2003 to 2013 and then used the Florida study's average number of hours to solve each of those crimes to determine how many investigative hours were necessary in the department.</p><p>To meet the average demand from 2003 to 2013, the study found, WPD would need a total of 43,847 hours, which, divided by the study's recommended annual investigative hours per detective, comes out to 32.38 detectives.</p><p>"Really, the more minor things for the most part don't get followed up unless there's real good suspect information," Evangelous said, adding that a murder investigation such as that of Elisha Tucker, whose body was found in a Pender County field, can take up all of the department's resources for a week.</p><p>New Hanover County District Attorney <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic80"><b>Ben David</b></a> sees the impact of the detective shortage on major crimes.</p><p>In a March 14 letter, David included hiring more investigators on a list of ways Wilmington City Council could support WPD. There are fewer detectives in the department's criminal investigative division now, David wrote, than there were in 1999.</p><p>"For victims of the City's most serious crimes, the personnel shortage in (the criminal investigations division) is felt as their cases are being investigated; while it is a good team of investigators they are simply stretched too thin to do all the work they are being asked to do," David wrote.</p><p>While he was in front of council, Evangelous pointed to on-call schedules, expanding technological needs and the lack of specialized detectives as part of the reasoning for expanding the division.</p><p>The expanding technological needs include new forensic evidence, as well as increasing use of social media in investigation, said Deputy Chief Mitch Cunningham, who oversees the criminal investigations division.</p><p>"There's so much social media. We know that folks are using it," Cunningham said. "In some cases, it helps us determine cases we might not have been aware of and – because of the wealth of potential usefulness of it – we have to make sure we're evaluating it and determining how we can help it further a case."</p><p>Another factor, Cunningham said, is the specialization of law enforcement. For instance, WPD employs detectives who specialize in sensitive areas such as crimes involving juveniles and domestic abuse.</p><p>"As we look at various examples of law enforcement, it's becoming increasingly technical, increasingly specialized, and we need to resource those areas of specialty," he said.</p><p>WPD expects to know exactly where it needs resources in late August or early September, when the department expects to complete a staffing study in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and Michigan State University. The department is waiting until that study is finished to ask for any additional personnel, Evangelous said.</p><p>In the meantime, WPD is in the process of hiring several part-time investigators and using volunteers to carry some of the workload. When hiring for both positions, Evangelous said, the department focuses on former officers and FBI agents who have retired to the area.</p><p>While neither the new part-time investigators nor the volunteer staff will be sworn officers, they are meant to help relieve the existing staff's burden by making phone calls and writing reports, Evangelous said. They will not be allowed in the field.</p><p>"That's kind of a stop-gap for us," Evangelous said.</p><p>Adam Wagner: 343-2096</p><p>On <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/news41"><b>Twitter</b></a>: @AdamWagner1990</p>